1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an information input apparatus for use, for example, in an electronic camera or the like which records the image of an object after converting the image into digital data.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, use of electronic cameras which shoot the image of an object using a CCD or the like, and which record the image in an internal memory, such as an IC or removable memory cards, or the like, after converting the image into digital data, is becoming common in place of cameras which use film. An image which is photographed with such an electronic camera may be retrieved immediately and be displayed on the screen of an LCD or the like without developing and printing processes required by a conventional camera.
Moreover, an electronic camera is compatible with personal computers because the electronic camera records the photographed image as digital data, and hence an electronic camera is often used as an input device for personal computers. For example, an electronic camera is often used as a tool to input image data in creating a home page for the Internet. In addition, electronic cameras are capable of continuously shooting the picture image of an object.
Certain electronic cameras are also capable of recording sound in conjunction with picture images of the object being shot. When one picture image is reproduced, the sound associated with the picture image is also output.
However, when a picture image is one of many continuously shot picture images, a problem arises that the time during which the sound associated with this picture image was recorded is relatively short. For example, when a picture image is one of a set of picture images continuously shot at a rate of 8 frames per second, the time during which the sound associated with each recorded picture image is one-eighth of a second.